The Reason Jesus Healed (Matthew 8:14-17)
The Reason Jesus Healed
Matthew 8:14-17
Well, as you know, we are now in the section of Matthew’s gospel
Where Matthew is showing off the power of Jesus.
We have seen several credentials to His Messiahship
• Lineage
• Forerunner
• Coronation
• Testing
• Theology
Now Matthew displays His power.
In Chapters 8 & 9 we see the power of Jesus on full display.
Power over sickness
Power over nature
Power over demons
Power over death
Power over sin
Thus far in chapter 8 we have already seen two extraordinary miracles.
The first was when Jesus was approached by a leper.
This man was unclean
This man was mutilated
The man was deteriorating
And yet Jesus touched this man and he was cleansed.
The second was a servant
This man was paralyzed
This man was near death
This man was terrified
And without even seeing Him Jesus healed this man’s paralysis.
They were both extraordinary displays of divine power.
And this morning we see a third miracle that Jesus worked.
And it is not only the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law,
But also of the crowd that soon flocked to the house.
Matthew closes these first three miracles out with the point of it all.
And because Matthew gives the point,
We instantly realize that there was a reason why Jesus did all this.
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED, WHAT WAS THE REASON JESUS HEALED?
Some are obvious.
COMPASSION
Jesus just felt sorry for people when they suffered.
Matthew 20:34 “Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.”
Even the leper we read of earlier in the chapter.
Mark’s gospel says this:
Mark 1:40-41 “And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
Another reason is:
HATRED
Jesus had a hatred for sin and the crippling effects it has on humanity.
Remember Lazarus?
After Jesus groaned, Scripture says:
John 11:35 “Jesus wept.”
He wasn’t weeping because Lazarus was gone,
Jesus knew he would be back in a couple of minutes.
Jesus wept because of the devastating effects that sin had on humanity. These people were broken by death, and it grieved Jesus.
He hated sin.
But in reality, neither of those two reasons
Are the main reason why He healed.
The main reason was
TESTIMONY TO WHO HE WAS
John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”
Jesus healed to make it blatantly obvious
That He was indeed the Messiah of God.
And that above all else is the point Matthew has been making
Here in this 8th chapter.
He wants you to know that Jesus is the Messiah.
And that is a fact that Matthew actually brings to a head
In our text this morning.
There are three things I want you to see as we look at this text.
#1 THE POWER
Matthew 8:14-15
You are familiar with this miracle.
Peter’s mother-in-law is sick, and Jesus healed her.
It is a miracle.
Even though it may not seem like the most dramatic.
On the heels of cleansing a leper and restoring a paralytic,
Removing a fever may not seem like that big of a deal.
But to look at it like that is to miss the point.
We look at the removal of a fever as a small issue,
Only because it came on the heels of such dramatic healings.
Had this been the only miracle Jesus ever worked,
We would still be amazed,
For what man has ever been able to make a fever leave?
None the less, allow me to put this miracle in a little bit of context here.
First, you are aware that Matthew
Did not record his gospel in chronological order.
Matthew lumped things together that he wanted you to see together.
I tell you that, because I don’t want you to think
Jesus just healed the paralytic and then entered Peter’s house.
THAT IS NOT WHAT OCCURRED.
Mark and Luke both reveal that it happened differently.
They each reveal that on this day
Jesus had been in the synagogue teaching in Capernaum.
And while He was there, he cast a demon out of a man.
And it was after this event that Jesus went home to Peter’s house.
Luke 4:31-38 “And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority. In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are — the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm. And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district. Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her.”
Now, I show you that, because I want you to be aware of what day this is.
This is the Sabbath.
And we are all aware of how often Jesus got in trouble
For healing on the Sabbath.
And yet when Jesus comes to Peter’s home after church,
“He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.”
(If Catholics believe Peter was the first pope,
Then we have a problem, for Peter was married)
But none the less, Jesus finds her.
And we find that she was “in bed” and she had “a fever”
That is really all we know.
We don’t know the seriousness.
We don’t know if it was life threatening.
If the fever was life threatening, then we marvel at His power.
If the fever was minor, then we marvel at His compassion to take the time for a non-serious illness.
Either way, Jesus is to be worshiped for this.
The other gospels indicate that the family asked Jesus
To help this woman, and they all agree that He did.
“He touched her hand, and the fever left her;”
The fever didn’t break.
The fever didn’t come down.
The fever left.
What kind of a man can actually drive a fever away?
Jesus could.
Jesus is obviously no ordinary teacher.
And then comes an interesting statement.
“and she got up and waited on Him.”
There is obvious gratitude here.
And anyone who has received the touch of Jesus,
Should be moved in exactly the same way.
And yet the interesting thing here is that this was the Sabbath.
You weren’t supposed to do any work on the Sabbath,
Yet this woman disregarded all of those notions to wait on Jesus.
It is obvious that she recognized who He was.
And so we see the power of Jesus.
“He touched her hand, and the fever left her;”
The Power
#2 THE PROBLEM
Matthew 8:16
Now, I know we read that verse and wonder what the problem was.
It doesn’t appear that there was any problem there.
After all, Jesus healed all they brought to Him,
And Scripture doesn’t say He had any problem at all.
But there is a problem, in fact there are two.
1) A RELIGIOUS PROBLEM
Did you notice when the crowds arrived to see Jesus?
“When evening came”
Let me read it to you in the other two gospels, to paint a better picture.
Mark 1:32 “When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed.”
Luke 4:40 “While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them.”
• So Matthew calls it evening.
• Mark clarifies by saying actually it was after sunset.
• Luke reveals that the people could barely wait that long, for they were coming as “the sun was setting”
WHY DOES THAT MATTER?
Do you know what occurred at sunset?
-The Sabbath ended
Now put all of this together with me for a moment.
Here that morning Jesus was in the synagogue
And He cast a demon out of a man, and as we read earlier
Luke 4:36-38 “And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district. Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home…”
OK, so the crowd knew about Jesus and His ability
When He was at the synagogue, yet all afternoon they waited.
They wouldn’t come until the Sabbath was over.
WHY?
Because they thought themselves to have been guilty
Of “work” had they come then.
And we all know who they would have upset.
Remember the synagogue official?
Luke 13:14 “But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”
Remember the blind man Jesus healed on the Sabbath and the ordeal he was put through?
John 9:14-16 “Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.”
In short, these people knew that to come to Jesus on the Sabbath
Would get them in trouble.
Yet, can’t you see these people chomping at the bit all afternoon
Just waiting for it to get dark so they can run to Jesus?
It is people wanting to come to Jesus,
And yet religion was getting in their way.
The Sabbath was never meant to keep people away from God.
Matthew 12:1-8 “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? “Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? “But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. “But if you had known what this means, ‘ I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
• The Sabbath did not restrict against worship.
• Nor did the Sabbath forbid against deeds of necessity.
• The Sabbath was for drawing near to God.
Mark’s gospel adds:
Mark 2:27 “Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
They had a religious problem.
They were still trying to be pleasing through their works.
They were still clinging to some sort of legalistic righteousness.
Otherwise they would have followed Him straight to Peter’s home.
So they had a religious problem.
But that is not all.
2) THEY HAD A RECOGNITION PROBLEM
So we know when they came.
Now let me ask you who came?
“they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.”
WHO CAME?
The “demon-possessed” and the “ill”
Now obviously we have no problem with them coming.
If I had a demon I’d go looking for Jesus too.
But it is the fact that they were the only ones who came
That is bothersome.
Where the demon-possessed the only people who needed Jesus?
Where the sick the only people who needed Jesus?
Of course not!
But that is all who came.
We find no record of sinners coming for forgiveness.
THEY HAD A RECOGNITION PROBLEM.
They recognized the power of Jesus,
They just didn’t recognize the problem of man.
• After casting out that demon in the synagogue…
• After haling Peter’s mother-in-law…
It should have been blatantly obvious that Jesus is no doctor.
He is much more.
And they should have run to Him as their Messiah.
Remember when Jesus boarded Peter’s boat and told him to throw the nets down on the other side?
Peter caught such a large catch of fish, that the boats nearly sank.
Do you remember Peter’s response to such a miracle?
Luke 5:8 “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
Peter didn’t go out and get all his fishing buddies and say,
“Hey, we’ve been doing it all wrong. Throw your nets on the other side.
This Jesus is a fishing expert.”
Peter recognized that Jesus was more than just some fishing guide.
Furthermore Peter recognized his own sinfulness.
Remember that woman at the well who only wanted water?
And yet Jesus revealed her deepest darkest secrets.
Remember what she did?
John 4:28-29 “So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”
She knew Jesus was more than some well-witcher.
She knew Jesus was more than some investigating reporter.
She had found the Christ.
And those are the types of responses we should have seen in Capernaum.
When He cast out those demons…
When He rebuked that fever…
They should have spotted Him as the Messiah.
But you know they didn’t.
Matthew 11:23-24 “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. “Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”
THESE PEOPLE HAD A RECOGNITION PROBLEM.
They didn’t see what they needed to see,
They saw only what they wanted to see.
And people do this with Jesus all the time.
But when you and I hear of the miracles of Jesus,
The first thing it should do is reveal to us
That before stands One of whom we are not worthy.
It ought to drive us to the ground like Peter.
It ought to send us to the masses like the woman at the well.
And it ought to push us to beg Him for forgiveness.
This crowd didn’t.
The only people who thought they needed Him
Were the sick and possessed.
The rest didn’t see the need.
The Power, The Problem
#3 THE POINT
Matthew 8:17
And perhaps it was because of their total missing of the point
That Matthew actually spells it out here.
He tells us the reason why Jesus healed.
It wasn’t so that more sick would come
(even though He would have healed them)
He healed to make a point.
“This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”
Jesus healed to prove to you that He was the Messiah!
And by proving Himself to be the Messiah,
He proved Himself to be the Savior.
It is by no mistake that Matthew quotes from Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
Matthew quotes that verse because he wants you
To travel in your mind back to where it is found.
Furthermore he wants you to put 2 & 2 together.
The One who could take our diseases
Is the One who can atone for our sin.
That was the point.
• Israel should have delighted when Jesus cast out that demon.
• Israel should have delighted when Jesus removed that fever.
And they should have said, “A man with such authority, surely this is the One who can make us right before God.”
Instead they just went and got all the other sick they could find.
And again, I don’t blame them for getting healed of their sickness,
I am just grieved that they didn’t seek spiritual healing as well.
They should have been aware that
• They each had something worse than fever.
• They each had something worse than leprosy.
• They each had something worse than paralysis.
That something was sin.
And while those other things might kill the body,
Sin was going to kill their soul.
And they should have run to Jesus for that.
Yet, Isaiah 53 rings true.
Isaiah 53:1-4 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”
Isaiah said that Messiah would come and
He would do works that proved Him to be God’s anointed Savior.
This proof would be that He would heal the sick with miraculous wonder.
But Isaiah also predicted that it would not be enough.
Isaiah said that despite all He did, the crowds still wouldn’t get the point,
And they would reject Him anyway.
What a tragedy!
And yet, this is the tragedy that I want you to avoid in your life.
Jesus is no novelty. Jesus is no legend.
Jesus is the Savior of the world.
• And don’t just go to Him to have your leprosy cleansed.
• Don’t just go to Him to have your fever removed.
• Don’t just go to Him to have your finances strengthened.
• Don’t just go to Him to have your marriage fixed.
GO TO HIM TO HAVE YOUR SIN REMOVED!
For if He can cleanse a leper…
And if He can rebuke a fever…
And if He can provide your meals…
And if He can fix your marriage…
Then surely He can forgive your sin and make you right before God.
And that is the connection
Matthew is jumping up and down on top of the table
Wanting you to make.
And yet sadly it is the connection Israel never did.
They just couldn’t see past their immediate hardships and pains
To see how badly they needed Jesus for all eternity.
Friend, don’t make that mistake.
Don’t just recognize the power of Jesus,
Also recognize the problem of man.
And that is that man is sinful before God
And in desperate need of a Savior.
And as we go looking for that Savior.
My money is on the One who could
Cleanse lepers…
Cast out demons…
Heal paralysis…
Rebuke fevers…
Calm storms…
And raise the dead…
That is the One I would trust in.
This morning if you have never trusted your life to Christ,
I want to ask you to do it.
Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.”
